00:12Mr Speaker, the whole House will also want to join me in wishing Team GB good luck as
00:17they travel to Paris for the Olympic Games.
00:22And Mr Speaker, this morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others discussing
00:28how this Government will bring about the change the country has decisively voted for.
00:33In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings today.
00:43The Prime Minister has stated very clearly that he wants to close the migrant hotels by
00:49the end of this Parliament.
00:50Well, the reform-led West Northamptonshire Council, brilliantly-led Council, will be
00:57issuing foreclosure notices on three migrant hotels within the next few days in response
01:06to grave public concern about the safety of women and girls on the streets of West Northamptonshire.
01:14Would the Prime Minister approve of us speeding up the closure of the migrant hotels?
01:20Mr Speaker, we will grip the mesh we inherited and close every hotel. At their peak, under
01:26the previous Government, there were 400 hotels. Now there are only 200 remaining. But he says
01:30he doesn't have time to condemn the comments calling children in care evil. He's also not
01:35had the time, it appears, to condemn the racist comments of his own MP. Utterly spineless.
01:42If we became net-zero tomorrow, by how much would it reduce the Earth's temperature by? Simple
01:48question.
01:49Mr Speaker, net-zero is, of course, not easy. But it's a huge opportunity to boost our
01:57growth, our jobs and our economy. And so he knows my views on that. But, you know, he
02:03complains that I have better ideas if they stop falling over Putin. And I understand the
02:09members of Clackton-Waltzby Prime Minister who can't even lead a party that fits in the
02:12back of a taxi.
02:18He has been let down by an Energy Secretary who is killing industry, let down by a Chancellor
02:23who is killing jobs, let down by backbenchers who don't understand that government is about
02:30tough choices. He, you, turned again and again and again to appease them. And now they have
02:37abandoned him. And what for? A pair of eyelashes and a black T-shirt. Isn't the truth that
02:44whoever is in charge, Mr Speaker, isn't the truth that whoever is in charge, the real problem
02:50is the Labour Party?
02:53Mr Speaker, what we heard the Health Secretary say this morning was that he wants to cut
02:57waiting lists. But we all know that there's only one waiting list that he really wants
03:01to cut.
03:02But the Prime Minister is not going to do anything about the toxic culture. This is
03:07his responsibility. Just last night, his allies accused not just the Health Secretary, but
03:13the Home Secretary and even the Energy Secretary of launching leadership bids. These attacks
03:18came from number 10. Nowhere else, his toxic number 10. Mr Speaker, I think the whole country
03:25is sick of this man's tone deaf, pompous moralising. Last week, last week, last week, we all saw
03:41him punch the Speaker's chair. This is not a man who is in control. Since the last King's
03:47speech, it's been one disaster after another. Cronyism. Jobs for friends of convicted paedophiles.
03:55Peerages for other friends of convicted paedophiles. Broken promises on taxes. U-turn after U-turn
04:02after U-turn. He's lost a deputy prime minister, two chiefs of staff, two cabinet secretaries,
04:08the support of his backbenchers and all his credibility.
04:16Does the prime minister have full confidence in Peter Mandelson?
04:19I have confidence in him, and he's playing an important role in the UK-US relationship.
04:30And I'm really proud, I'm really proud, Mr Speaker, that in the first year of the Labour government, we've got
04:35free school meals, breakfast clubs, childcare. We've got £15 billion invested in transport in the North and the Midlands. We've
04:43had a regulation. Planning and infrastructure is pounding forward. Building 1.5 million homes.
04:49The biggest investment in social and affordable housing.
04:56Mr Speaker, meanwhile, back on these benches, we've delivered the biggest sustained boost to defence spending since the 1980s. That's
05:03£270 billion over this parliament. That, Mr Speaker, is a record. The defence investment plan will take that even higher.
05:13That's about facing the future. We'll finalise the plan with the Defence Secretary, and we'll have it published before the
05:18NATO summit.
05:24Mr Speaker, Mr Speaker, this will be my last answer from this dispatch box.
05:28Every Prime Minister knows, every Prime Minister knows when they take up the torch, that the day will come when
05:33they have to pass it on. That day has come for me. This is the end of my political journey.
05:42In six years went from historic defeat in 2019 to historic victory in 2024. And in two years in government,
05:51I leave the country in better shape than I found it.
05:55I am proud of everything that we have achieved.
06:00Mr Speaker, Mr Speaker, can I just take time to say to you, Mr Speaker, and all those who work
06:05for the House and our constituency offices, thank you for all your hard work.
06:11To our civil service, thank you also for all your hard work. To my political team, many of them here
06:19today, who came on this journey with me, thank you so much for everything you have done and being prepared
06:27to walk through fire for me.
06:31To my colleagues on these benches. To my colleagues on these benches, I am proud of all we have achieved
06:35together and proud of each and every one of you.
06:38To my successor and each of you, I will give my full support. To all colleagues across the House, can
06:48I wish you good health and happiness.
06:52To all those in the gallery, whose lives have been changed or improved by this Labour government, and all across
06:59the country, who struggle to be seen or heard.
07:04You're the reason I came into politics. To my wife and children, I love you.
07:10Goodbye.
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